From the Abundance

There is a certain place reserved just for God and sometimes we neglect that place and spend too much time away.  What is this place I speak of?  Worship, Bethel, the place where God lives.  Sometimes we get too busy trying to handle things on our own, make it through the day, or just survive to the next moment that we forget we have a secret place.  We stay out of the presence of God and wonder why we can't hear, why we aren't getting breakthrough, why we aren't seeing healing, why we feel powerless, why our families are falling apart, why everything around us seems to be in chaos... I can't even begin to explain what it feels like to be in the presence of God and do it  justice but there's just something so special and amazing about being in that place.  You can pour our your heart, bare your soul, your deepest fears, your frustrations, your hurt, your anger, your confusion, your impatience... and be completely naked before God's presence.  It...

It's taken me a while to get to the place where I could write this blog.  I've been struggling with writing for the past few weeks and hadn't really realized why.  Tonight all of that changed.  I needed some couch time, for those who don't know me couch time is when my friends and I play therapist for one another.  I'm fortunate that most of my close friends are actually social workers, therapists or ministers/Pastors.  So I was talking to one of my friends an explaining to her all the things that had been going on in my head, the things God had been showing me about myself and how I'd just been a bit overwhelmed with it all.  Then it hit me.  The light bulb came on and I knew exactly why I was struggling and what I was struggling with. I'm in a season where everything in my life is new.  New city, new state, new people, new church, new job, new relationship, new everything... That's all great but what I forgot was that with all that newness ...

This past weekend the church I've been attending was in revival and My God was it an amazing time in the Lord.  The atmosphere of sheer expectancy was breathtaking.  I love being in a place full of believers hungry for more of God!  There's something spectacular about being under the downpour of heaven. Sitting in that room filled with hundreds of believers anticipating the infilling and downpour of the Holy Spirit gave me a small glimpse of what the Day of Pentecost must have been like. Imagine being surrounded by a room full of people only there for one thing... the Holy Spirit! This revival was unlike any I've ever been a part of.  Not because the service was so different or the songs were special or even the preachers.  They were all great.  The thing that was different was me.  Each service I went in expecting God to show up and move like never before.  I expected miracles, signs, and wonders.  I expected somebody to be healed, deli...

In my final post on mental health I wanted to take some time to explore a topic that's not considered a mental health issue medically but it is quite common.  Don't let the title of this post trick you into thinking I'm posting about unresolved Daddy issues because I'm not.  It's something that we all struggle with at some point in life or another... self-esteem. Whether you're a man, child, woman, or confused about which.. at some point your self esteem will waver.  There will be some days where you feel too fat or too skinny, too tall or too short, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not fine enough, or just plain old not good enough.  We all have those moments, but for some people it's their constant reality.  They feel like they never measure up.  The problem isn't that they're measuring, the problem is who's standard they're using.   If I constantly compare myself to the next person, the media's ideal beauties, the world's sta...

It's mighty dusty around these parts and I have some cleaning to do!  let me brush off the cobwebs by saying... I'm Back!!  I sometimes take a break from writing because I try to be careful with what I release and share with others.  My blog is From the Abundance for a reason.  I set out to share what was in my heart, and truth be told, my heart isn't always right. Sometimes I get attacked, I get angry, discouraged, bitter, depressed, sad, grieved, and sometimes down right disgusted.... BUT I DON'T STAY THERE! None of those are things I want to share with the people of God.  Out of the abundance of the heart, meaning whatever there's the most of in your heart, the mouth speaks...  UH OH, some of us are in big trouble right now!  I'm real enough to say all of the things I just said without fear or worry of being looked at strangely, whispered about, or just flat out talked about.  I've come to a place in God where I have to be real with Him at ...

There's nothing better than the warmth and comfort of a soft fuzzy blanket on a cold night.  You can't wait to pull it up high under your chin and tuck it all around you so no cold air can get to you.  Well this morning as I felt the cool air in my room hit the back of my leg I realized a few things... 1. when you're outside the covering you get hit with the sneak attack 2. sometimes when you leave, it's hard to get back underneath like you were because you're so tangled up 3.when it's really bad you have to stop everything and focus on that task for a while until you get it right 4. sometimes you have to change positions to get it right I hope y'all are with me in the spirit... you can look at this a couple ways..Look at that warm fuzzy blanket as God's covering... sometimes we get out of His will, and way without even realizing it until we get hit with a sneak attack. Then we feel just like that cold foot that's hanging out from under the ...

There's a lot of talk about being transparent and real and what not these days in the kingdom but a lot of people are more like a stained glass mosaic than truly transparent... they let you see through the areas they want you to but hide most of the truth.  Well today let me help somebody out by being real  transparent... I'm 33, I have two degrees ( a B.S. in Apparel Design & Merchandising and A Master of Social Work), I live alone, pay my own bills (with the Lord's help), I'm gifted, talented and anointed to do a lot of things.  I have great friends, a wonderful family and a pretty decent boyfriend.  I have a small image consulting business on the side, I'm building a ministry and I'm writing blogs, books, and several other things...I'm usually a pretty upbeat and positive person.... People usually tend to think I have it all together, ask me how I do it, how I did this and that or whatever The thing is... I'm extremely frustrated, ...

Every day we walk past people in the hallways at work or school, we drive and ride past others in cars on our way home, greet people in the aisles at the grocery store or smile and nod at a stranger passing. Have you ever wondered what that person's life is like? What they believe? Who are they really? Do they even believe in God? Are they married? Or if you're like me, I love hearing people's stories.... stories of struggles turned to victory, defeat turned to triumph, and the impossible manifest in miracles. My momma always tells me that I don't meet any strangers and that I know everybody... I for one take pride in not meeting strangers. What can I say, I'm a people person. To that end, each month I will be featuring an untold story. Some will be people I know well, others will be people I've met along the way. So here goes.. I frequently visit the Dollar Tree behind my house and I know most of the cashiers and managers by name. I told you, I'm...

Every now and then, an artist needs a blank canvas.  Sometimes that blank canvas comes out of a fresh package, other times it's made by hand, and even still there are times when a blank canvas is created by sanding and painting over an old canvas with Gesso.  Well... this is where I am right now.. God is sanding me and has begun painting over the old painting to create something new. There are times in life when everything around us seems to come crashing down around us and everything we knew to be true is ashes.  The good thing about that is God already said He would give us beauty for our ashes (Isaiah 61:3) . The process of reworking a canvas amazes me but also expresses exactly where I am right now.  Imagine this... you're a canvas that's had a picture drawn on it and as you've walked through life that drawing has been filled with color and texture... brush strokes, flicks of the artists brush, scrapes of a painter's knife, and even some thinn...